Samsung passes Apple, Nokia in global smartphone shipments

Samsung has had an extremely favorable third quarter of 2011, according to the …

Apple may be seeing some success in the courts when it comes to its war on Samsung, but Samsung has the upper hand when it comes to sheer shipment numbers. According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung shipped 27.8 million smartphones globally during the third quarter of 2011, up from a mere 7.5 million during the same quarter in 2010. That's an increase of 370 percent year-over-year, allowing Samsung to leapfrog both Apple and Nokia.

Apple, by comparison, shipped 17.1 million handsets during Q3 2011, up from 14.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Nokia's smartphone shipments dropped from 26.5 million in Q3 2010 to just 16.8 million in Q3 2011, according to Strategy Analytics' numbers. This puts Samsung at 23.8 percent of the global smartphone market, with Apple coming in second at 14.6 percent and Nokia at 14.4 percent. "Others" made up 47.3 percent of the market.

Strategy Analytics credited Samsung's success to the popularity of Android, extensive global distribution, and "elegant hardware designs." Samsung has taken some flak for its product designs as of late, with a German court ruling in August that Samsung had violated Apple's European Community design registration for the iPad, and a US judge mirroring those comments earlier this month. US District Judge Lucy Koh still has yet to determine whether Apple's US design patents should even be considered valid, but said that if they were, Samsung would be violating them.

Although these statements have so far applied to the Galaxy Tab and the iPad, Samsung's Galaxy smartphones mimic the design of the Galaxy Tab, so they all share similar characteristics. The Galaxy SII in particular, which Strategy Analytics credits as offering tough competition to Apple, is strikingly similar to the iPhone 4 and 4S.

But Samsung's "elegant hardware designs" are only one part of the story—Strategy Analytics noted that these numbers came in before the launch of the iPhone 4S. "We believe Apple’s growth during the third quarter was affected by consumers and operators awaiting the launch of the new iPhone 4S in the fourth quarter, volatile economic conditions in several key countries, and tougher competition from Samsung’s popular Galaxy S2 model," Strategy Analytics director Neil Mawston said in a statement.

Indeed, the iPhone 4S has been setting new records for Apple. The company sold 4 million devices during the first three days after launch, beating its previous record of 1.7 million iPhone 4s in the first three days after its launch in 2010. The increase can largely be credited to wider distribution and more carrier partners this time around, but 4 million in one weekend is still nothing to sneeze at. Meanwhile, Nokia took its lumps as it transitioned from Symbian to Windows Phone 7 for its smartphone operating system—Strategy Analytics described it as a "very challenging process"—but the firm remains optimistic that Nokia will see some recovery soon.

"The recent launch of the new Microsoft Lumia portfolio has helped to raise Nokia’s profile, and Nokia will be hoping the partnership with Microsoft can drive at least an L-shaped recovery in its global smartphone market share over the next few months," director Tom Kang said.

Nokia does look as if it could bounce back with the help of the sleek-looking Lumia 800 and its little brother Lumia 710. They are some of the nicest smartphones Nokia has introduced to date, and they will both run Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango."

I really thought there would be some sort of backlash from the first series of flawed Galaxy S phones they shipped last year, followed up by their inability to push out timely OS updates. Guess it's just smart business strategy!

Last I heard, Samsung wasn't reporting shipments of smartphones, so it's actually estimated shipments versus reported sales. Even so, it's pretty unlikely that the estimate is more than perhaps 30% out.

A short research on Google with "Samsung cellphones" brought up a website with 9 pages (about 85 cellphones per page) of different cellphones from Samsung (http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung-phones-9.php). Now, Apple has only one cellphone...

I just wonder what are the costs associated with the creation of all the different cellphones from Samsung. I would really appreciate having the sales revenue...

No discussion of revenues or profit? Market share is vastly important but I think an interesting counterpoint is how Apple appears to be killing the competition with regards to profit.

Don't think that's the point of this article. 370% growth vs 21% growth is significant. No matter how you cut it, Samsung has flipped from selling almost 7 million phones less than apple to about over 10 million more. I'm pretty sure RIM has better margins than Samsung, but that dosn't mean their future looks good.

Yes, Apple numbers were down from a late launch on the 4S. Many predict that customers held out and are picking up the 4S in huge numbers now. That is a prediction I agree with. However that only justifies why Apple says were lower, not why samsungs were through the roof.

A easy counter arguement would be that customers who couldnt wait switched to Samsung, but that would be even more significant (read: negative) for Apple.

No discussion of revenues or profit? Market share is vastly important but I think an interesting counterpoint is how Apple appears to be killing the competition with regards to profit.

Well, yes and (sort of) no. Samsung and Motorola, for example, both seem to be doing great in market share. Motorola's mobile division had a loss for the past quarter. Samsung's smartphone division is a major driver of their profits (the company's profits are down overall, but smartphone profits doubled YOY).

From a consumer/armchair analyst perspective, looking at the Motorola-Samsung-Apple spectrum I think Samsung is, in its own way, emulating the iPhone product strategy. Yes they have a ton of crappy low-end phones to cover a range of consumers, but they also keep a single major flagship product; it's similar to Apple's 3GS-4-4S line, but with more SKUs. Motorola, though, goes with multiple distinct high-end products (and arguably loses name recognition through having many of them sold through Verizon with Droid branding).

A short research on Google with "Samsung cellphones" brought up a website with 9 pages (about 85 cellphones per page) of different cellphones from Samsung (http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung-phones-9.php). Now, Apple has only one cellphone...

I just wonder what are the costs associated with the creation of all the different cellphones from Samsung. I would really appreciate having the sales revenue...

I believe this is only looking at smart phones, not all cell phones. I'd be curious to know how many smart phones Samsung is currently offering, understanding, too, that the Galaxy S II, for example, shows up as a different phone for every US carrier due to carrier tweaking. If Apple is still selling the 3.x versions of the iPhone, that would mean they have multiple iPhone versions being offered as well, although obviously there are quite a few less than what Samsung has.

No discussion of revenues or profit? Market share is vastly important but I think an interesting counterpoint is how Apple appears to be killing the competition with regards to profit.

Quite so. Especially since in the recent Senate hearing Google admitted that two thirds - 66% - of their mobile traffic come from iOS devices. Two thirds. Apple may not be shipping the most smart phones but they sure as hell are generating the most profit from smartphones, their users are making the most use of the internet and their users are paying out on apps, which is why the iOS and the Apple app store are the only game in town. If making actual profit is your metric.

That is an absolutely gigantic increase in shipments. Jacqui, do you know if there was a comparable decrease in their dumb/featurephone shipments? Otherwise their supply chain scalability boggles my mind.

I would not argue that the galaxy S II looks like the iPhone 4/4S. They look very different as one has a glass back and one has a textured plastic back.

I would however say that their first galaxy S looks like an iPhone 3G/3GS.

The Galaxy II is very distinctive. Personally I like it over the look over the iPhone 4/4S but I'm not looking to go larger than my iPhone 3GS and if you shrunk it proportionally the battery life would suffer. I have friends who love their Samsung Galaxy II phones and prefer the size.

Uh, that argument might fly with tablets since the marketshare numbers tell us the whole story, but you have no leg to stand on with Android's smartphone marketshare.

But please, keep bringing up that stupid argument. We love it.

No, obviously market share is everything http://features.rr.com/article/07u03yf8RC5SR?q=Yahoo! Like how Google make more from iOS than they do Android - and that's ignoring their purchase of Android to start with, the cost of developing it since and their purchase of Motorola Mobility. They just posted a loss btw.

Uh, that argument might fly with tablets since the marketshare numbers tell us the whole story, but you have no leg to stand on with Android's smartphone marketshare.

But please, keep bringing up that stupid argument. We love it.

No, obviously market share is everything http://features.rr.com/article/07u03yf8RC5SR?q=Yahoo! Like how Google make more from iOS than they do Android - and that's ignoring their purchase of Android to start with, the cost of developing it since and their purchase of Motorola Mobility. They just posted a loss btw.

Uh, that argument might fly with tablets since the marketshare numbers tell us the whole story, but you have no leg to stand on with Android's smartphone marketshare.

But please, keep bringing up that stupid argument. We love it.

No, obviously market share is everything http://features.rr.com/article/07u03yf8RC5SR?q=Yahoo! Like how Google make more from iOS than they do Android - and that's ignoring their purchase of Android to start with, the cost of developing it since and their purchase of Motorola Mobility. They just posted a loss btw.

Uh, that argument might fly with tablets since the marketshare numbers tell us the whole story, but you have no leg to stand on with Android's smartphone marketshare.

But please, keep bringing up that stupid argument. We love it.

OK, I'll bite. Are you suggesting that Android's actual marketshare--in practice, in use by consumers--is greater than iOS? If so, can you explain then why various reports, including a comment made by a Google representative at a Senate hearing, claim that a majority of mobile web traffic comes mostly from iOS devices? Or claims that app developers are more likely to make money from sales on the iTunes App Store than on other mobile app market-places?

Maybe someone can clarify something for me, which is based on Samsung's actual presentation. YoY sales (in Won), according to page 2 of Samsung's presentation, are up 37%. The second bullet on page 9 states "Shipment : High-20%↑YoY (low-20%↑QoQ)"

It is all a big conspiracy. You see, Samsung has activation robots at the end of their assembly lines, which unpack the phones, automatically generate Google accounts and log in with them once. Then the phones are packed back in their boxes, and shipped to the retailers, where they are actually collecting dust on shelves and storage rooms all over the world. Why, just yesterday, Amazon announced they have to expand their storage facilities just to keep up with the millions of Samsung phones they have lying around.

That's how Google is activating 500 fucking thousands phones a day, Samsung is shipping like crazy, but in reality nobody uses Android. It's all quite simple, once you understand the trick.

That's how Google is activating 500 fucking thousands phones a day, Samsung is shipping like crazy, but in reality nobody uses Android. It's all quite simple, once you understand the trick.

Let me clarify a few things. 1. Google activate devices not just phones. 2. Many devices are activated more than once - Google just count raw activations and don't discount re-activations of the same device. 3. There are companies other than Samsung who make Android devices.

That's how Google is activating 500 fucking thousands phones a day, Samsung is shipping like crazy, but in reality nobody uses Android. It's all quite simple, once you understand the trick.

Let me clarify a few things. 1. Google activate devices not just phones. 2. Many devices are activated more than once - Google just count raw activations and don't discount re-activations of the same device. 3. There are companies other than Samsung who make Android devices.

All shocking I know.

Who told you that? Activations have nothing to do with non phone devices. Stop making shit up.

In debate, they are called facts. Address them or live in denial. Which is very much a typical fanboy trait.

How about the fact that apple sells more than just iphones which includes the ipod touch that are capable of accessing google?

This is indeed very true but I'm not sure it helps your original argument - or more mystifying, why you think it does?

Smartphones, regardless of OS platform, outsell both iPod Touch and iPad sells by a factor of around 18:1 Yet somewhere the fews tens of millions of iPod Touches and iPads that Apple sells a year, combined with the very smart market share of iPhones still generate way more internet traffic use and app store purchases use than every non-iOS device on the planet? That's pretty fucking terrible for all Android, webOS, Symbian and Windows Phone 7 platforms out there.

Alright alright!Most of you are from the USA and i know that is apple country lolz!But the rest of the world its hard to spot apple users and yes in the rest of the world most people wont use data because its prohibitively expensive and use wifi instead.truth to be told i have seen more people using Samsung phones than nokia and very few use apple.How did i know this?Everyday going to work i have to take the public commute 4x a day and everybody is texting.I noticed a lot of samsung phones, much more than nokia.Also a lot more people are using smartphones thankfully because of affordable prices.And apple isnt affordable at all for these countries.So unlike you people who are surrounded by apple users its quite the opposite in other countries.My country alone has more people than in the USA so i guess the rest of the world doesnt revolve around apple, Im sorry....not!

Let me clarify a few things. 1. Google activate devices not just phones. 2. Many devices are activated more than once - Google just count raw activations and don't discount re-activations of the same device. 3. There are companies other than Samsung who make Android devices.

All shocking I know.

Who told you that? Activations have nothing to do with non phone devices. Stop making shit up.

"making shit up" Are you claiming that non-phone Android devices do not need activating? Because my friend's Galaxy Tab calls you a liar.

Let me clarify a few things. 1. Google activate devices not just phones.

OMG, eleventy one, CONFIRMED: Honeycomb tablets (the only other Android devices with Google services that are counted in the activation numbers reported) are finally selling enough to skew the activation numbers. Now Apple is well and truly fucked, iPad is going down! Good going, Google.

SoupD wrote:

2. Many devices are activated more than once - Google just count raw activations and don't discount re-activations of the same device.

Of course they do. That's why Samsung has actually two rows of activation robots. Tricky motherfuckers.

SoupD wrote:

3. There are companies other than Samsung who make Android devices.

Well thank god for that! Otherwise Samsung would have to be shipping 50 million smartphones every quarter. Just think of the storage areals for all those phones - Amazon just had a heart attack.

A short research on Google with "Samsung cellphones" brought up a website with 9 pages (about 85 cellphones per page) of different cellphones from Samsung (http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung-phones-9.php). Now, Apple has only one cellphone...

Your link lists all Samsung phones that GSM arena has reviewed. The list goes all the way back to monochrome phones that are propably ten years old. It also includes all types of Samsung phones, not just smartphones. Perhaps not the most valid comparison.

Smartphones, regardless of OS platform, outsell both iPod Touch and iPad sells by a factor of around 18:1

Isn't the more relevant ratio iPhones to iPads and iPod Touches? Which is about 1.5:1.

Quote:

Yet somewhere the fews tens of millions of iPod Touches and iPads that Apple sells a year, combined with the very smart market share of iPhones still generate way more internet traffic use and app store purchases use than every non-iOS device on the planet? That's pretty fucking terrible for all Android, webOS, Symbian and Windows Phone 7 platforms out there.

Why should Samsung care that its users don't use as much internet as iOS users? Also, internet share is more a function of installed base share, not market share.

Let me clarify a few things. 1. Google activate devices not just phones. 2. Many devices are activated more than once - Google just count raw activations and don't discount re-activations of the same device. 3. There are companies other than Samsung who make Android devices.

All shocking I know.

Who told you that? Activations have nothing to do with non phone devices. Stop making shit up.

"making shit up" Are you claiming that non-phone Android devices do not need activating? Because my friend's Galaxy Tab calls you a liar.